Television Finale
Apr 1 "The Bob Newhart Show" last airs on NBC-TV
Sports History
Apr 1 New York Islanders right wing Mike Bossy becomes first NHL rookie to score 50 goals in a season after scoring #50 and #51 in the closing moments in a 3-2 win over Washington
- Apr 2 Jamaican batsman Basil Williams scores 100 on debut for the West Indies in Australia's 3 wicket 3rd Test victory in Georgetown, Guyana
Television Premiere
Apr 2 TV show "Dallas" starring Larry Hagman and Barbara Bel Geddes premieres on CBS as a 5 week mini-series; ratings success leads to a 13 year run
- Apr 2 Georges de Mestral's patent for "velvet type fabric" expires, puts "Velcro" in the open market
Sports History
Apr 2 Czech tennis star Martina Navratilova wins her first WTA Tour Championship; beats Evonne Goolagong Cawley of Australia 7-6, 6-4 at Oakland Coliseum Arena
Academy Awards
Apr 3 50th Academy Awards: "Annie Hall", Richard Dreyfuss & Diane Keaton win
- Apr 3 European market & China signs trade agreement
Radio History
Apr 3 Larry King moves his radio show from Miami to Washington, D.C.
Historic Event
Apr 7 US President Jimmy Carter defers production of neutron bomb
Sports History
Apr 7 US Court of Appeals upholds Commissioner Bowie Kuhn's voiding of attempted player sales by A's owner Charlie Finley in June 1976
US Masters Golf
Apr 9 42nd US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: 42 year old Gary Player shoots a record-tying final round 64 (−8) to win by 1 stroke from Rod Funseth, Tom Watson and Hubert Green
- Apr 9 Brewers sweep Orioles 11-3, 16-3, & 13-5 (each with a grand slam)
Sports History
Apr 9 In separate NBA games Denver's David Thompson scores 73 points & San Antonio's George Gervin scores 63 points (33 in 1 quarter)
Music Awards
Apr 12 13th Academy of Country Music Awards: Kenny Rogers and Crystal Gayle win
- Apr 13 Jackson slugs a 3-run HR in the 1st inning, & the field is showered
- Apr 14 David Hare's play "Plenty" premieres in London
- Apr 14 Korean Air Lines Boeing 707, fired on by Soviets, crashes in Russia
- Apr 14 WRR-AM in Dallas Texas changes call letters to KAAM
- Apr 14 Thousands of Georgians demonstrate in the capital Tbilisi against Soviet attempts to change the constitutional status of the Georgian language
- Apr 15 43 die as 2 express trains collide head-on south of Bologna, Italy
- Apr 15 Great Britain performs nuclear test
- Apr 16 "History of the American Film" closes at ANTA NYC after 21 performances
- Apr 16 Cardinals' Bob Forsch no-hits Philadelphia Phillies, 5-0, in St. Louis
- Apr 16 NBC's premiere of miniseries "Holocaust"
- Apr 17 63,500,000 shares traded on NY stock exchange (record)
Boston Marathon
Apr 17 82nd Boston Marathon: US double; Bill Rodgers wins his 2nd men's title in 2:10:13; Gayle Barron women's champion in 2:44:52
- Apr 17 Pulitzer prize awarded to Carl Sagan for "Dragons of Eden"
- Apr 18 Senate votes to turn Panama Canal over to Panama on Dec 31, 1999
- Apr 19 Yitzhak Navron elected 5th president of Israel
- Apr 22 Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by Earl Anthony
- Apr 22 23rd Eurovision Song Contest: Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta for Israel wins singing "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" in Paris
Sports History
Apr 23 Reds Joe Morgan ends record streak of 91 consecutive errorless games at 2nd
- Apr 23 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
Baseball Record
Apr 24 Angels Nolan Ryan strikes out 15 Mariners, 20th time he has 15 in game
- Apr 25 Phillie Phanatic makes 1st appearance
- Apr 25 Supreme Court rules pension plans can't require women to pay more
- Apr 25 ABC premiere of crime drama "Vega$"
- Apr 26 France sends troops to Chad
- Apr 26 NASA launches space vehicle S-201
- Apr 27 Cooling tower collapses at a coal-fired power plant at Willow Island, West Virginia, kills 51
- Apr 27 Afghanistan revolution (National Day), pro-Russian military coup
- Apr 30 "Elvis: The Legend Lives!" closes at Palace NYC after 101 performances
- Apr 30 British film "The Stud" starring Joan Collins, based on the book by her sister Jackie Collins premieres in UK